In a fully automated environment, appliances that change the various parameters of the environment can be inked to a control area network (CAN) and a controller. The appliances may include heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, lighting systems, audio-visual systems, telecommunications systems, security systems, surveillance systems, and fire protection systems, for example. One or more easy-to-use user interface, such as a touch panel, may be electronically linked to the control area network to accept user input and display current system status. Panja, Inc. of Dallas, Tex. designs and manufactures such networked appliance control systems.